


The Dying of the Light

by avidbeader



Series: Avidbeader's Sheith Quote Week 2017 [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Galaxy Garrison, Kerberos Mission, M/M, Sheith Quote Week, Sheith Quote Week 2017, Sheithquoteweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 11:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13099269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avidbeader/pseuds/avidbeader
Summary: Left behind at the Garrison, Keith works hard to live up to Shiro's hopes for him.Sheith Quote Week Day 6: "Guiding Light"





	The Dying of the Light

 

 

The first couple of months Keith was able to coast along. The momentum from Shiro’s last conversation with him kept him going. The promise that next time they’d apply for a mission together as co-pilots. The admonishment to stay focused. The not-entirely-joking observation that Shiro expected Keith to own every single record in flight training by the time he got back.

 

Holding onto these memories helped Keith stay on top of his game. He studied more, bringing his coursework grades up to all As, and began tutoring a few students in his strongest subjects. He asked for sparring opportunities from some of the officers, learning different tactics from those he had used with Shiro, and worked with younger cadets to pass along his experience. Instructors began pulling him aside, complimenting him in tones of genuine respect about things besides how records in the sims kept dropping before him.

 

The next few months were harder. The novelty of trying to fill Shiro’s shoes, be a leader like him, was starting to wear him down. Keith was a natural introvert, not good with being around lots of people, and the efforts in being an approachable role model for the younger students were tiring. He had to concentrate on things Shiro had said, trying to remember how it had felt when Shiro praised him. The comments from his superiors began to dry up as they adjusted to the new norm and only spoke to him at the times when he pushed himself harder to be what Shiro hoped for him. Studying and training were beginning to be time fillers instead of steps toward a goal.

 

Flight was the only time he felt free, able to connect most strongly with his memories of Shiro. Whether it was the sims, his first tests in an actual plane, or Shiro’s hoverbike, he chased that feeling of being airborne, defying gravity.

 

As they approached the halfway point of the Kerberos mission, Keith began to think of Shiro’s return as a light at the end of a very long tunnel. He could keep going as long as that light was there.

 

Toward the end of the fifth month, Keith got a short message from Matt Holt’s sister.

 

_They’ve landed! Shiro says hi!_

 

Keith was deep in end-of-term exam hell and made a mental note to respond once he was done and ask her just how she was keeping in touch with the team and whether he could send a reply.

 

Two days later, the enforced evening quiet hours for exam week were interrupted by a voice coming over the public address system.

 

“Tomorrow’s morning exams will be postponed to Friday afternoon. All students are to report to the auditorium at 0900 for a full briefing on the following announcement. It is with deepest sorrow and regret that we must report the failure of the Kerberos mission. Preliminary investigations point to a crash during landing, due to pilot error, and all crew members are missing and presumed dead. Grief counselors will be on hand after the briefing.”

 

At a table in the library, Keith froze, unable to process what he had just heard. Matt’s sister said they’d landed. How could there be a crash if they’d landed safely? How could they assume Shiro had made a mistake that disastrous? Shiro was the best they had. Why were they lying?

 

His vision darkened, the tunnel he’d been traveling for so long suddenly filled with blackness. He barely felt the hands of the cadet at the next table as she leaped forward to catch him before his head could strike the table.

 

It was all dark. Lonely and cold and dark.

 

 


End file.
